[Contest] Silly Plugs

Dr. Trowel

OK, it's time I finally started this thing! I hope somebody out there is still interested....

Rules:
(list=1)
() Entries must be EVN plug-ins.
() Winners will be chosen by open vote, just as in the famed "A Little Photoshop Fun" contests.
() The winner gets bragging rights, plus karma if a mod decides to hand some out.
() 1 MB max, once stuffed or zipped. Edit: Or go bigger, but in that case it will be acceptable for people to vote for other plugs even if the haven't tried yours.
() Each entry can use a max of 10 Descs (Edit: No! 12!) and 10 STRs.
() Max of 5 each (Edit: No! 6 each!) of all other resource types (RLEd, PICT, Ship, Outf, Misn, Syst, Cron, Sound, etc., etc...).
() Max of 8 Nova Control Bits.
() Enter as many plugs as you want.
() I reserve the right to clarify or change the rules if necessary, though I won't do so lightly or without explaining myself.
() Make it accessible. If the player has to go somewhere special or take specific actions to encounter the things altered or added by your plug, at least tell us what to do.
() Make it coherent. Not as in "rational" or "sensible," but as in "it all hangs together" -- in other words, have some sort of theme. (Of course, randomness can be a theme, if you present it right....)
() Make it funny! Take a break from trying to maximize realism and plug-making sophistication, and just go for laughs. Send seltzer bottles flying through space. Write knock-knock joke missions. Add a race of sentient milk puddings intent on winning Wimbledon at all costs. Whatever!
(*) Voting is going to start around August 12, unless I am successfully bribed with photos of sweet foodstuffs.
(/list=a)

The resource limits are there to increase the likelihood that the plugs will be interoperable, and also to keep the contest from being dominated by experts and those with huge amounts of time on their hands -- I'm hoping that newbs will feel they can show off their first plugs (see my (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum9/HTML/005563.html#")Extremely Basic Ship Sprites(/url) tutorial for one idea), and that some of our more ambitious regulars will take a day or two off from their massive TCs, too.

After the contest is done, I'm hoping that we'll be able to combine a bunch of entries to make a single insane plug to submit to the ASW add-ons page. If you want your entry to be included in the compilation, you'd best keep your humor to the "PG-13" or "US Basic Cable" level -- in other words, if it's too offensive for "South Park," it is probably too offensive for ASW. (If any of our resident Figures of Authority want to raise or lower the bar, they can of course do so.)

If you've got an idea, get crackin'. If you've already got a plug ready to go, post it here! If you don't have access to a server to host an entry, email me and I will probably be able to give it a home. If you have never made a plug before, right now seems to be a good time to try -- there are currently several people actively working on new tutorials and guides, and they're likely to take an interest in questions you post on these boards.

Here are my entries, both of which have been seen before:

(url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel//misc/TrueAbomination.sit")TrueAbomination.sit(/url) (160K) is a fairly simple set of replacement graphics for the Abomination, based on a product that made me laugh out loud in a California supermarket. It demonstrates lunacy that can be produced without the use of a 3D graphics app.

(url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel//misc/Swamp.sit")Swamp.sit(/url) (300 K) is more elaborate and uses 3D graphics. It adds a new outfit that can be bought on Earth, but that's just the start.... There's a new "fighter" involved, with a rather unusual weapon....

I'm betting that someone out there can do better (it really wouldn't be that hard). Let's see it!

(This message has been edited by Dr. Trowel (edited 08-07-2004).)

Luke

Well, whaddya know. I just started making a parody plug-in. Now some questions:

What's the deadline?
You're serious about just going for laughs, right? My plug-in skills are very basic; I'm much better at being silly.
Does it matter if my entry doubles as a teaser for a bigger satirical work? I don't want my final product to be so restricted.
By the way, why is it so restricted? What's wrong with being extravagantly silly if you've got the time and effort?

------------------
Write your complaints here: O
Please don't write out of the space.
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Dr. Trowel

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
1) What's the deadline?

Dunno. Something between 10 days and 3 weeks from now, most likely. Depends on how fast entries roll in ( very, very slowly if at all seems to be what initial signs point to), and on how much time people beg for. In any case, the whole contest, including a voting phase that will probably need to run at least a week, must be over by Sept. 16. This is for reasons having to do with my real-life schedule.

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
2) You're serious about just going for laughs, right? My plug-in skills are very basic; I'm much better at being silly.

Humor is very serious to me. Don't even joke about it. Don't worry about your skill level! Please take this as an opportunity to jump into the waters of Nova. Swim around a little! Hell, gargle in it if you feel like it!

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
3) Does it matter if my entry doubles as a teaser for a bigger satirical work? I don't want my final product to be so restricted.

Even better! Anyone who wants to enter a silly teaser for a larger work, whether the larger work is primarily humorous or primarily serious, is more than welcome. The idea for this contest actually grew out of the results of my own efforts to produce a gloriously large and ridiculous new space region to add to the map of the EVO Nova port. Those plans are on the back burner now, but the contest lives.

Quote

Originally posted by Luke:
4) By the way, why is it so restricted? What's wrong with being extravagantly silly if you've got the time and effort?

Nothing's wrong with the impulse -- it's my own desire as well -- but I decided I wanted to try to get as wide a range of responses as possible for the contest, and that allowing oversize entries would scare away people with more modest ideas.

If you just want to exceed my limits by a little, just ask. Entries aren't exactly pouring in, so some rule revision is possible. On the other hand, I think it's kind of a cool challenge to try to work within the limits of a "class," as in sailboat or racing car formula designs. With creativity, you can cram a lot of wackiness within the limits. My "swamp" plug (above) uses

Spoiler

a ship with new graphics, two weapons, and three outfits, all linked together. Still staying within my limits, I could have added, for example, a chain of 5 new systems ending in one with a custom spob complete with landing and bar descs, an animated rle planet-from-space graphic, and a PICT landing scene.

Looking forward to your entry, Luke!

Captain Phillips

lol. this contest is as good as won!

So, do you mind if I stretch the limits a bit to be a micro TC with say 8 syst's, 6 spobs, 6 ships, and 6 weaps? My idea is the funniest as its own universe.

------------------
Cmon people, the (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=20&SUBMIT;=Go")Chronicles(/url) are worth looking at.
I love Frigates, as is easily seen:(url="http://"http://www.dabie.k-ow.net/~glasskids/EV_Frigates_page.html")EV Frigates(/url). Visit the web board of (url="http://"http://novatc.suddenlaunch3.com")my Total Conversion.(/url)

ArcAngel Counterstrike

once I get off work tomorrow, I shall work on mine...

Just give me the medal now why dont you.

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Ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv'
"You are the Messiah!" "No I'm not!" "Yes your are, I should know, I followed a few"
(url="http://"http://polymercitychronicles.com/").(/url)(url="http://"http://www.reallifecomics.com/").(/url)(url="http://"http://www.Penny-arcade.com/").(/url)(url="http://"http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/").(/url)(url="http://"http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/").(/url)(url="http://"http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/archives.php").(/url)

SpacePirate

Quote

Originally posted by ArcAngel Counterstrike:
**once I get off work tomorrow, I shall work on mine...

Just give me the medal now why dont you.

**

Aw... it's over. :frown:

Hopefully it will be as awesome as your cartoon-esque, verbose explosions thing, AAC.

------------------
Fear the SpacePirate,
He made a (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")plug-in search page(/url)...
And he'll board your ship! -mrxak
*** (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/")InfernoStudios(/url) was last updated 06 June, 2004. ***

Dr. Trowel

CP, Your upward pressure on resource limits is a bit too much, especially when I think of how many descs you'd need to pull that off. How about this: all resource limits that were 5 are now set to 6, and the desc limit goes to 12. STR limit stays at 10, and the file size limit -- which is already pushing the limits of 'fun' for phone modem users -- stays at 1 MB. I bet you can make do w 6 instead of 8 systs for now -- you can always revise your plug for the add-ons board once you are "famous" for winning this contest.

CP, AAC, Luke: Woop!

SP: Are you on board?

I'm out of time for now -- will be back appx. Sat. AM.

;D

Captain Phillips

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
**CP, Your upward pressure on resource limits is a bit too much, especially when I think of how many descs you'd need to pull that off. How about this: all resource limits that were 5 are now set to 6, and the desc limit goes to 12. STR limit stays at 10, and the file size limit -- which is already pushing the limits of 'fun' for phone modem users -- stays at 1 MB. I bet you can make do w 6 instead of 8 systs for now -- you can always revise your plug for the add-ons board once you are "famous" for winning this contest.;)
**

Alrighty then, I'll just add a few systs and two governments northwest of sol. It'll still be quite good enough to cause more than a few spasms of laughter I assure you.

------------------
Cmon people, the (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=20&SUBMIT;=Go")Chronicles(/url) are worth looking at.
I love Frigates, as is easily seen:(url="http://"http://www.dabie.k-ow.net/~glasskids/EV_Frigates_page.html")EV Frigates(/url). Visit the web board of (url="http://"http://novatc.suddenlaunch3.com")my Total Conversion.(/url)

SpacePirate

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
**SP: Are you on board?
**

Sure. But I may push the 1MB limit by a bit.

------------------
Fear the SpacePirate,
He made a (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")plug-in search page(/url)...
And he'll board your ship! -mrxak
*** (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/")InfernoStudios(/url) was last updated 06 June, 2004. ***

Luke

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
(B)CP, Your upward pressure on resource limits is a bit too much, especially when I think of how many descs you'd need to pull that off. How about this: all resource limits that were 5 are now set to 6, and the desc limit goes to 12. STR limit stays at 10, and the file size limit -- which is already pushing the limits of 'fun' for phone modem users -- stays at 1 MB.
/B)

That's better. I hope it doesn't matter if we just alter some existing things--say I just wanted to go through the Temmin Shard string or something and lampoon it directly by re-writing and tweaking the existing missions.

And if the deadline depends on begging... uh... I'm begging you to make it as far in the future as possible. Because I'm lazy.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, and I'm going to be away from any sort of computer for two and a half weeks of August. I knew I had a valid reason.
------------------
Write your complaints here: O
Please don't write out of the space.
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.zombo.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.mazca.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.google.com")-(/url)-----------

(This message has been edited by Luke (edited 07-29-2004).)

Ace3

I would be so sure you have won! He posted this on EV-Nova.net and UT (Uncle Twitchy) has entered. He is good so I'd watch out.

------------------
I am the Ace of games
I can out fly any comp

Modesty Blaise

The file needs to be less then 1mb stuffed right.
I just made a ship at 750kb. And my plug is supposed to contain more.

A litte off topic: Does anyone know a way to copy a picture into resedit without going through the clipboard. Photoshop gave me a to big for the clipboard message when i tried copying. I had to rezize the entire thing.

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And then there were silence.................

Jonathan Boyd

Quote

Originally posted by modesty_blaise_us:
**The file needs to be less then 1mb stuffed right.
I just made a ship at 750kb. And my plug is supposed to contain more.

A litte off topic: Does anyone know a way to copy a picture into resedit without going through the clipboard. Photoshop gave me a to big for the clipboard message when i tried copying. I had to rezize the entire thing.

**

Copy it into a blank resource file, then load that file into Photoshop as a PICT resource file. Think that should work.

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(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/jonathanboyd/evn/index.html")Classic4Nova plug-in(/url)

Zacha Pedro

Quote

Originally posted by modesty_blaise_us:
**The file needs to be less then 1mb stuffed right.
I just made a ship at 750kb. And my plug is supposed to contain more.

A litte off topic: Does anyone know a way to copy a picture into resedit without going through the clipboard. Photoshop gave me a to big for the clipboard message when i tried copying. I had to rezize the entire thing.

**

Photoshop has the ability to save directly in a resource file. Another possibility if your image editor does not have this feature is to save as PICT, and implode this PICT in a resource file; don't know if it's possible with ResStore, but I know for sure (url="http://"http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14523")ResPloder(/url) can.

------------------
The (url="http://"https://secure.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/store/hazel.cgi?action=serve&item;=breakdown.html&BREAKDOWN;_SKUID=1480")Ambrosia Mac CD(/url) with other registrations - 5$. Paying for (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/")EV Nova(/url) as it's such a great game - 30$.
The (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/tshirts.html")1337 EV Nova T-shirt(/url)(url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum25/HTML/000003.html#ZachaPedro05-18-200409:42AM") (/url) - 22$. The (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) by wOOtWare to tinker with your Nova - FREE!
The feeling you're a Nova geek - priceless.
There are things money can't buy or that are free, for everything else, there's indeed Mastercard.

ArcAngel Counterstrike

(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/arcangel_c/EVDoom.mov")http://homepage.mac....el_c/EVDoom.mov(/url) (memory problems so low FPS) (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/arcangel_c/Crusher.jpg")http://homepage.mac....l_c/Crusher.jpg(/url)

The plug is already at 2.8 mb and the ship dosnt even turn. so I dont think I will finish it.

Eh, it was a hour of work. I think I did it just for the Gir and Zim voices.
So I offer: (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/arcangel_c/CivVoiceGIR.sea.hqx")http://homepage.mac....oiceGIR.sea.hqx(/url)
Civilian GIRs!

------------------
Ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv'
"You are the Messiah!" "No I'm not!" "Yes your are, I should know, I followed a few"

(This message has been edited by ArcAngel Counterstrike (edited 07-30-2004).)

Dr. Trowel

Several people have complained about the 1 MB stuffed-or-zipped file size limit. As I continue musing, it seems to me that most of my reasons for limiting size are covered by the numbers-of-resources limits, anyway. Therefore: the 1 MB limit is now lifted. Bear in mind, though, that when I open the voting I won't insist that only people who have run every plug can vote!

Instead, I'll ask that they only vote for plugs that they've run, and that in their "testing" they not play favorites for non-technical reasons. To be more specific, if someone can't get a plug to run on his/her machine they shouldn't vote for it based on what they see in an editor, and if some of the 1 MB-plus plugs are too big for them to painlessly download on their (non-broadband) connections, they shouldn't vote for those either.

Plug size is now up to the plug author, but if you go with something hefty, you gotta worry about losing votes. Oh, I am just too clever.

Luke: During which two and a half weeks of August will you be unavailable?

Do others have opinions on when the contest should be closed to entries? From the schemes that are a-hatching, it looks to me like we need another 5 days at the absolute least, and perhaps quite a bit longer....

(This message has been edited by Dr. Trowel (edited 07-30-2004).)

Captain Phillips

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
**Do others have opinions on when the contest should be closed to entries? From the schemes that are a-hatching, it looks to me like we need another 5 days at the absolute least, and perhaps quite a bit longer....
**

Quite a bit longer, I'm gone for five days after today and I won't be able to work on anything. And It'll take a few days after that to finnish.

------------------
Cmon people, the (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=20&SUBMIT;=Go")Chronicles(/url) are worth looking at.
I love Frigates, as is easily seen:(url="http://"http://www.dabie.k-ow.net/~glasskids/EV_Frigates_page.html")EV Frigates(/url). Visit the web board of (url="http://"http://novatc.suddenlaunch3.com")my Total Conversion.(/url)

Luke

The dates are not exactly set yet, but I will probably be away from the 9th to the 23rd. So... actually... forget about it. The 9th is too early and the 23rd is too late, huh? I'll just finish it up before I leave.

------------------
Write your complaints here: O
Please don't write out of the space.
(url="http://"http://www.evula.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.zombo.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.mazca.com")-(/url)-(url="http://"http://www.google.com")-(/url)-----------

Phyvo

I gotta get my hands in this... gosh. Time to unleash my childhood on you all! BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA!

I go to bed now.

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(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")The plug-in search engine!(/url)

Dr. Trowel

Quote

Originally posted by Captain Phillips:
Quite a bit longer, I'm gone for five days after today and I won't be able to work on anything. And It'll take a few days after that to -- > finnish. <--

It sounds like Captain P is aiming to give us a plug to help us get in touch with our inner Scandinavians!

Phyvo: Welcome to the insanity!

Try to be done by Thursday the 12th, people. That's the deadline, and I absolutely won't be pushing it back. Unless you really need it. And beg abjectly. And post a jpeg of a sugary food item from your home state/province. Yum.

(This message has been edited by Dr. Trowel (edited 08-02-2004).)